Pretty is an Inside Job | Natalie

Jacksonville / Palm Coast, FloridaSingle Mama • Empty Nester • Writer • Cook • Nature Lover

“Pretty is knowing that life is an inside job.”

Natalie is a woman who understands that a beautiful life is not built only by what happens to us — it is built by what we choose to focus on.

“What we focus on is our vote for what we want more of.”

She splits her time between Riverside in Jacksonville and Palm Coast, moving between the energy of the city and the calm of the water. After more than a decade in sales, she is in a season of transition now, looking for her next thing. But Natalie is not waiting for life to feel fully resolved before she lets herself enjoy it.

She writes every day. She practices yoga. She walks her twenty-year-old dog, inherited from her mother. She drinks her coffee outside. Rides bikes with her boyfriend — she calls it a sweet, rekindled love story. Swims in the ocean. Cooks. Laughs. Spends time in nature. And sees her twin daughters, almost twenty-five now and living in New York City, as often as distance allows.

And maybe that is part of what makes Natalie’s story feel so alive.

She knows life can be hard.

She also knows joy is still available.

The Life She Chose to Build

Natalie has lived many lives in many places — in different parts of the country and abroad. She has raised twin daughters as a single mother while building a career and carrying the kind of financial weight that so often comes with doing life on your own.

Single motherhood has been a beautiful journey for Natalie,

but it has not been an easy one.

There has been strength in it. There has been pride in it. There has also been pressure, responsibility, and the long-term reality of wondering what that independence means for her financial security down the road.

She is still in that part of the story, still preparing for retirement and still figuring out what comes next. Along the way, some lifelong friendships have shifted in ways she never expected, and there has been loss.

But Natalie is not telling her story from a place of bitterness. She is telling it from a place of awareness. She has made peace with what changed, she is embracing what is true in the present, and she is grateful for the people and love she has in her life.

Above all, she is prioritizing her peace.

What People Did Not See

From the outside, Natalie can look like someone who is naturally positive because life has been easy for her.

That is not the truth.

Natalie had a very challenging childhood. The people closest to her know that. And she is clear that her positivity is not the result of a life untouched by difficulty.

It is a choice.

A practice.

A way of taking back what she can control.

“People who think I’m positive because my life has been easy are not accurate. I choose positivity because I want to have a good life.”

Natalie believes we cannot always change our stories, especially the ones written in childhood. But we can still create the life we want regardless of the hand we were dealt. That belief has become part of how she moves through the world — not by pretending hard things did not happen, not by denying insecurity or fear, but by choosing, again and again, to focus on what gives life more light.

The Hard Part to Say Out Loud

For Natalie, one of the hardest things to say out loud is that sometimes she feels deeply insecure. She understands that an unstable childhood can leave hard wiring around attachment, fear, and loss. Even now, in a life full of love, she can still get in her head. She can forget how good her life is. She can forget to trust the actions that give her comfort and security.

“I’m so blessed to have so much love in my life, and I have to consciously choose to pay attention to the actions that give me comfort and security.”

So she practices paying attention — to love, to steadiness, to the life in front of her, and to what is true now. That kind of inner work is not always visible from the outside, and it does not always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like catching your own thoughts before they drag you somewhere you no longer want to live. Sometimes it looks like choosing gratitude on purpose, or simply reminding yourself:

This is my life now.

And there is so much here to love.

What Helped Her Keep Going?

Natalie’s daughters have been one of her greatest sources of strength. Watching them thrive, watching them live the life they know they want and deserve, has been inspiring and affirming for her.

When Natalie tells herself her own story, she feels proud — proud of how far she has come, proud of the adventures she has had, and proud of the blessings she has noticed along the way. She also feels a strong connection to God and a deep love for nature. She says she “geeks out hard” on the natural world, and that connection has helped her remember what matters.

Through the years, Natalie has learned that it does not take as much as we think to have a good life.

“A good life is not about how much money you have in the bank; rather, it’s about how you spend your time and who you surround yourself with.”

It is about what you notice.

What you appreciate.

What you choose to give your energy to.

“The more we appreciate, the more we have to appreciate.”

Those are words Natalie lives by. She moves through life appreciating everything she can, and as a result, her life keeps getting better and better.

Coming Back to the Water

After living in Colorado for around seventeen years, Natalie came back to the East Coast — specifically to Florida — and it felt good.

She loves the mountains deeply, but she is a water girl at heart. When people ask her, “Beach or mountains?” her answer is simple: live at the beach, visit the mountains. Her body feels better at sea level, and being near the water has helped her feel more alive inside her skin.

Coming back to Florida has also created more economic stability for Natalie and her daughters. It has given her space for a beautiful rekindled love story.

And lately, as she spends more time at the beach, she feels like she has returned to a younger, more peaceful, more playful version of herself.

Menopause, and being on the other side of it, has brought her into a new relationship with herself too. She has returned to practices she loves, including Ayurveda, pickling ginger in lime juice, and drinking CCF tea — cooling, nourishing, grounding rituals that feel like exactly what she needs.

This season is not about becoming someone else.

It is about remembering what has always made her feel alive.

The Strongest Thing She Has Ever Done

When Natalie thinks about the strongest thing she has ever done, one memory rises to the surface: moving her daughters to Israel when they were in elementary school.

For a year and a half, she gave them an international living experience, even though she had very little money at the time. She made it happen anyway.

“I got gritty and resourceful.”

It became a beautiful chapter for their family. The spirit of family and tradition was strong in Israel, and Natalie and her daughters got to live inside that culture together.

It was not easy, but it was meaningful. Sometimes strength is not about waiting until everything is perfectly secure or every detail makes sense on paper. Sometimes it is deciding that an experience matters enough to get creative, figure it out, and give your children a bigger view of the world.

What Does Pretty Mean?

To Natalie, pretty is being authentic.

Pretty is prioritizing peace.

Pretty is being playful with life.

Pretty is laughter.

Pretty is having things that make you genuinely smile, even and especially when no one is looking.

Pretty is knowing that life is an inside job.

From Natalie’s story, pretty also looks like choosing what you focus on. It looks like understanding that your thoughts and words help create your reality. It looks like remembering that what we focus on is a vote for what we want more of.

It looks like counting your blessings.

Saying thank you instead of sorry.

Getting fresh air.

Moving your body.

Losing track of time.

And slowing down enough to enjoy your one precious life.

One Thing She Wants Another Woman to Hear

“You got this! You are stronger and braver than you know!”

Count your blessings. Be grateful for everything. Keep saying thank you instead of sorry.

Be good to yourself.

Natalie wants other women to remember that we have more control over our lives than we sometimes realize. Some things that feel fixed, required, or institutional may actually be optional.

Some parts of life can be questioned. Some choices can be made differently.

The more we prioritize our peace and use our resources to vote for what we want more of, or less of, the better.

Thank you, Natalie, for sharing your story and reminding us that positivity is not always proof of an easy life.

Sometimes it is a decision.

Sometimes it is a practice.

Sometimes it is a woman choosing, every day, to focus on what she wants to grow.

I See Your Pretty™

What I See in Natalie’s Story

What I see in Natalie’s story is a woman who has learned how to build beauty from the inside out — not because life handed her ease, but because she chose to pay attention to what gives life meaning.

I see a mother who got gritty and resourceful.

I see a woman who has known instability and still chooses peace.

I see someone who understands that gratitude is not pretending everything is perfect. It is choosing not to hand your whole life over to what hurt.

Natalie’s story reminded me that sometimes the strongest women are not the ones who never feel insecure. They are the ones who notice the fear, breathe through it, and come back to what is true.

As I was writing her story, I kept thinking about a line I had written in my own notes:

Ask and you get.

Don’t and you won’t.

The universe can’t deliver an order you never place.

Natalie’s story feels like a living version of that. She does not pretend life is perfect, but she keeps placing her attention, her words, her gratitude, and her energy toward the life she wants more of.

Love is here. The ocean is here. The morning coffee is here. The daughters are thriving. The dog still needs a walk. The body still wants to move.

The story is still being written.

That is what I see as her pretty.

love, Amanda